Strike 2 and we’re out!

This isn’t to be confused with the local gas strike that has been going on for the last month or so. There have been several days scattered throughout the previous four weeks when there was not even a drop of fuel to be burned in Bluefields. But it doesn’t matter that business-savvy (opportunistic?) resellers are supplying the town with go-juice from alternative sources now that mobs of angry citizens are slashing tires of any vehicle suspected of carrying a paying passenger.

According to one guy I spoke with, the transportation workers believe the government isn’t doing enough to subsidize the high price of gas when, by law, the taxistas must maintain set fares. Before the strikes started, gas cost $4/gallon and a taxi was $.50 anywhere in town. With a $25 12-hour taxi rental, the drivers are certainly not dining on lobster every night. So no surprise they want the price of gas to go down or the taxi fares to go up.

The general feeling of the picketers is that if you are not with them you are against them. And nobody wants to be against an angry mob armed with tire-spiking bats.

UPDATE The strike has ended. The gov agreed to lock gas prices at $3.25/gal for taxis and let everyone else pay market rates. The tire repair shops can breath easy.